Accident Overview
On August 1, 2012, at approximately 1715 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-44-180, registration N740FT, operated by Space Coast Aviation, experienced a nose landing gear collapse during landing at Space Coast Regional Airport (TIX) in Titusville, Florida. The flight instructor, a private pilot, and a passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed from Merritt Island Airport (COI) in Merritt Island, Florida. The flight was conducted as an instructional flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Aircraft and Flight Details
The accident flight was the first flight after the airplane was released from maintenance, which included a landing gear inspection and operational check. According to company maintenance records, the aircraft had accumulated approximately 10 hours of operation since its most recent 100-hour inspection, performed on July 20, 2012. The flight instructor reported that the airplane had experienced various landing gear issues during the week prior to the accident, including a faulty nose gear indicator light the day before.
Accident Sequence
While practicing instrument landing system approaches at TIX, the nose gear indicator light did not indicate that the gear was down and locked. The flight instructor visually confirmed that the nose gear was extended. He then cycled the landing gear, but the nose gear indicator light remained unchanged. Subsequently, the flight instructor attempted to land on runway 36. The airplane initially touched down on the main landing gear, but when the nose landing gear contacted the runway, it began to collapse. The airplane came to rest approximately 2,500 feet from the approach end of the runway. The fuselage around the nose gear sustained substantial damage.
Postaccident Examination
A postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the nose landing gear eccentric bushing, which engages the downlock hook, was out of adjustment. Additionally, a check of the hydraulic system fluid reservoir dipstick showed that the fluid level was below an amount observable on the dipstick. After the hydraulic system fluid reservoir was properly serviced and the eccentric bushing was adjusted, the landing gear functioned normally during subsequent tests.